The Perfect Playground
by XxLadyStrengthxX
Summary: "Your father did what? Did I hear you correctly?" Braxton flinches when Jade's tone changes and he recognizes that it's the one brought out when someone's in trouble. "He didn't tell you, did he?"/Or, Beck buys something without Jade's permission, and she's not about to let him get away with it that easily. Written for Bade Prompts' Final Round: "(S)He didn't tell you, did (s)he?"


**Title: **The Perfect Playground

**Rating: **K+**  
Genre: **Romance and Humor**  
Pairing(s): **Bade, Cabbie, implied Tandre; group friendship

**Description: **"Your father did what? Did I hear you correctly?" Braxton flinches when Jade's tone changes and he recognizes that it's the one brought out when someone's in trouble. "He didn't tell you, did he?"/Or, Beck buys something without Jade's permission, and she's not about to let him get away with it that easily. Written for Bade Prompts' Final Round: "(S)He didn't tell you, did (s)he?"

**Author's Note: **Special thanks to my beta reader, khay, for all the great suggestions and editing advice! I'm so glad she was willing to help me out with Bade Prompts' Final Round, especially since she was the one who invited me into the writing challenges when I joined the fandom a while back! Keep a look out for her story, which will be posted on the 26th :D

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Victorious or any of its characters. All rights belong to Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider.

* * *

_It's just one of those days._

One of those days where nothing turns out the way you plan, and basically everything goes wrong.

Jade West-Oliver has seen plenty of these days in her thirty years of living, but nothing quite compares to today. She feels like she just can't win.

It started on her way to a very important meeting – to which she was running late, of course – and got pulled over for speeding. And since she was nauseous and in a bad mood, she said some rather _rude_ comments to the officer and proceeded to accept her ticket with a scowl.

Because she was stopped, she missed out on any opportunity of a good parking spot at the agency. Then the doorman, looking up her up and down, greeted her with a sympathetic smile and doubtfully informed her that the elevators were having some mechanical difficulties, so she would need to take the stairs.

Jade West-Oliver was not amused as she mounted the steps to the ninth floor, practically heaving and supporting her lower back with her hand when she reached the top. And she was still attempting to catch her breath when discussing her script with potential producers.

After running several errands throughout the day, and receiving a message from her agent, saying, _"You need to relax," _Jade finally gave up and decided to go home.

(But not without hitting LA rush-hour traffic.)

So when she walks through the door around six in the evening, Jade is bombarded by a roaring six-year old boy. "Mommy!"

He jumps into her arms, causing Jade to lose her breath momentarily. "Braxton, honey, I thought we talked about this," she reprimands, settling her son on her hip.

"Talked about what?" Braxton asks innocently, taking his mother's cheeks in his hands and squeezing them. He giggles, "You look like a fish, Mommy!"

Jade adjusts her growing boy again, grunting as she does so. "That it's hard for mommy to hold you, especially since your little sister is getting bigger, too." Her feet begin to ache excruciatingly, and she concludes that her ankles are still swollen from the stairs.

Braxton looks down at his mother's protruding belly and cringes. "Why do I have to get a little sister? A brother would be funner."

"It's 'more fun,' buddy," Jade corrects, smiling at the expression on her son's face – an exact copy of hers when she's frustrated. "Well, Daddy and I don't really get to decide; it's just a surprise, but you'll be fine."

He sticks out his bottom lip dramatically, as if he can change the gender of his little sibling by his attitude. Jade, wanting to change the subject, asks, "Hey, how was your day?"

At this, Braxton's face lights up immediately. "Awesome! Daddy picked me up from school early and we got ice cream!"

"Your father did what?" she responds incredulously, staring at her son with wide eyes. "Did I hear you correctly?"

Braxton flinches when Jade's tone changes and he recognizes that it's the one brought out when someone's in trouble.

A lot of times, he doesn't know whether he's in a pickle, or if his daddy is. Knowing his mommy, it could be either.

"He didn't tell you, did he?" the six year old whispers in fear, hiding his face in the crook of his mother's neck.

Jade sighs and pries her son off her shoulder. "Brax," she begins with his well-used nickname, "What else did you and Daddy do today?"

He hesitates, peering over his shoulder to peek at the back door. Braxton, being as clever and witty as his mother, looks her straight in the eye and locks his lips, throwing away the key.

Jade laughs distastefully. "Oh, Braxton Oliver, I _know_ you did not just do that. Now, tell me where else your father took you. Don't lie to me; remember what I told you? Mommies know when their babies aren't telling the truth."

"And that you can see into my soul?" he recites nervously, emitting a snort from Jade.

(She had told him that in order to scare him into confessing that he put itching powder in Uncle Robbie's pants. He was definitely her child.)

"That's right, Brax."

Braxton clings to his mother's maternity dress and whimpers, "Fine, Daddy took me to Wanko's Warehouse and bought me a playground." He watches the growing anger appear on Jade's face, so he adds, "But I guess he didn't tell you that either, did he?"

Jade suddenly sets down her son and, judging by Braxton's protests – "No, Mommy, don't put Daddy in time out!" – she begins to waddle toward the back door, knowing that's where her husband is. She bursts through the door and groans when she sees several other people lounging around her back yard.

"Great, just the people I wanted to see," is her way of sarcastically greeting her best friends of more than fifteen years. They all reply back happily, waving and laughing as Jade stomps over in their direction.

Braxton sprints past her and grabs onto his father, who is at the grill, cooking dinner. "Daddy, Daddy! Mommy's gonna _kill you_! I'm sorry, but she made me tell her… Daddy, she can see into my soul!" he shrieks theatrically, hiding his face in Beck's leg.

Beck chuckles and ruffles Braxton's shaggy, brown hair. Leave it to the son of an actor to be the dramatic center of attention. "Brax, Mommy can't see into your soul."

"Don't lie to him, Beck," Jade snaps, crossing her arms over her nine-month baby bump. She glares at her husband of eight years. "Were you planning on telling me that you pulled our son out of school early and bought him a _tree house_?!"

"It's not a tree house, Jade; it's a playground!" Tori corrects matter-of-factly, grinning proudly.

"Can it, Vega!" Jade barks menacingly. "No one asked you."

Tori raises her hands in defeat, widening her eyes in the direction of Andre, who laughs genuinely.

"Jade, you're overreacting," Beck replies, flipping the patties on the grill. "It's the safest one you can buy! It's 'The Perfect Playground!'" He holds up the building instructions to present the brand of the play area.

Jade rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Says who? The idiotic teenager working part time at Wanko's?"

Beck only smiles at his wife before gesturing to the newly built playground. As Braxton busies himself on the monkey bars, Jade inspects the other parts. She skeptically pushes the baby swing, the regular swing, and the two-seater swing as well. She peers into the actual house, locating a spinning tic-tac-toe station and a steering wheel at the top. Lastly, she runs her hands over the slide carefully, then returns to her friends. "Who built it?"

"Braxton, Andre, Robbie, and I all put it together this afternoon. We did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself!" Beck beams.

Jade shakes her head. "I'm almost positive that Robbie did as much as Braxton. Let me guess: he took his shirt off and paraded around, pretending to know what he's doing?"

Andre answers quickly, "Yup, nailed it."

"Hey!" Robbie shouts. "I resent that!"

"Jadey, it really is cool! I've put Aurora in the baby swing a few times and she loves it!" Cat squeals from her lawn chair. She bounces the eighteen-month old baby in her lap and kisses her forehead.

(Jade still can't get over the fact that her best friend named the kid after a Disney princess, but that's Cat Shapiro for you.)

Aurora continues to suck on her pacifier religiously, but becomes alert when she hears her name mentioned. She squirms in Cat's arms and works her way down to the ground, running as fast as she can on her stubby legs toward the play area; her little pink dress and _enormous_, matching bow blow in the late-summer wind.

"Mom, look at me!" Braxton calls from the steering wheel. "I'm the captain of a pirate ship! Arg!"

Cat gasps. "Don't play pirates in front of the baby!"

Tori squints her eyes in confusion and looks to Andre, who only shrugs in response.

Jade can't help when her heart melts as soon as she sees the smile on her son's face. As he yells something about 'walking the plank' and plummets down the slide, she laughs out loud at his imagination. She turns her attention to a giggling Aurora in the baby seat, bubbling with joy as Robbie pushes her higher and higher.

Beck is at her side shortly, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. "See? They're having a blast, babe. And I can't guarantee that Braxton won't hurt himself; he is a boy, after all, but just picture our baby girl in that baby seat, and Aurora in the big swing. They're going to want to be out here all the time, and want us to push them higher or watch them go down the slide. It's gonna be great!"

"I think you just want me to like it so you can play on it, too," Jade says suspiciously, smirking at her husband.

Beck looks longingly at Andre pushing Tori on the swing, and Cat now helping Aurora down the slide. "I wouldn't mind if Braxton shared…"

Jade nudges him in the side. "I thought so." And Beck kisses her temple gently, radiating a loving smile from his sometimes-hard-as-rock wife.

"Oh, by the way, how'd your meeting go?" he asks curiously, his attention diverted to the almost finished patties.

Jade doesn't even bother telling him that the producers rejected her script, because at the moment, her son is calling her to push him on the swing.

And who needs the acceptance of strangers when she's got the perfect family, friends, and playground to make her life worth-while.

* * *

**A/N: I'm super bummed about this being the final round of writing challenges hosted by Bade Prompts. It was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad that I was asked to be a part of it – as well as all of the challenges! **

**Thank you for taking the time to read my story; the primary prompt assigned to everyone was "(S)He didn't tell you, did (s)he?" and the secondary prompt (which you individually picked from a pool of prompts, then post it on its assigned day) was "the perfect playground." So, I hope it was entertaining.**

**As always, keep an eye out for the next chapter of "Survival of the Fittest," coming soon to a computer screen near you!**

**Please review; I'd really appreciate the feedback! **

**Thanks!**

**XxLadyStrengthxX **


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